Oddo shows potential for fast ferry service across Staten Island

Updated on Jul 08, 2015 at 12:12 PM EDT

Borough President James Oddo has worked with New York Waterway, the city's largest private fast ferry providers, to prove viability at alternative Island fast ferry locations. (Image courtesy of NY Waterway)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Borough President James Oddo enlisted the help of a fast ferry service and conducted test runs to show that service is a viable option for more remote locations on Staten Island, not just in Stapleton, and he is pushing the city to study the options.

Driven by Mayor Bill de Blasio's interest in five-borough fast ferry service, Oddo wants the city to aggressively study potential ferry dock locations as far west on the North Shore as Port Richmond, and on the South Shore, possibly in Prince's Bay.

To help make the case, the borough president worked with New York Waterway, one of the city's largest private fast ferry providers, to run trial routes at various alternative locations.

Beginning in April, NY Waterway ran a boat from Port Richmond that took 24 minutes to reach lower Manhattan and 34 minutes to midtown. A boat running from Prince's Bay took 47 minutes to lower Manhattan and 57 minutes to midtown.

"This is a piece of evidence to show that this can be done," said Oddo. "I think, at those travel times, there will be a market. Now the question is finding a piece of land that can have sufficient parking and I can't do that alone. I need the power of the administration. I need the [New York Economic Development Coporation]. I need the mayor's office."

"An island should have waterborne transportation," said Oddo. "And Staten Islanders should have options -- especially on the South Shore, which faces some of the longest commute times in the country."

Last winter, de Blasio
outlined his vision
for a web of fast ferries, connecting some of the more transit-starved areas of the outer boroughs to Manhattan. The pay-per-ride network would be the largest municipal ferry service by ridership in the United States and is scheduled to launch by 2017.

"We have an extraordinary set of waterways surrounding us. We're the ultimate coastal city and we're not taking advantage of it," said the mayor after the announcement.

MAYOR'S PLAN 'INSULT' TO ISLAND

Some Staten Islanders
were a bit perplexed by the mayor's proposed location for Staten Island -- Stapleton. The North Shore neighborhood is
primed for residential growth
, but it's also well-serviced by mass transit that connects relatively quickly to the free Staten Island Ferry.

Mayor Bill de Blasio's proposed fast ferry system for New York City.

On top of that, Stapleton would only get its fast ferry hub in phase two of service roll out, which does not yet have a launch date.

"It's really hard to accept, when you're a Staten Islander, to hear about a fast ferry plan that doesn't include the Island," Oddo said. "And when you craft a [phase 2] plan that specifically makes a reference to a North Shore site without addressing the South Shore -- that is the insult on top of the injury."

CITY HALL DEFENDS IDEA

The proposed Staten Island fast ferry would begin in Coney Island and stop in Stapleton before heading to Pier 11 at Wall Street, Manhattan. The mayor's office defended the route, saying that it was carefully studied and chosen to serve a rapidly developing area of Staten Island.

"Right now we are focused on building out an affordable five-borough ferry service, including a new stop in Stapleton," said de Blasio spokesman Wiley Norvell. "We considered many sites and routes as part of that plan."

The mayor's office said it would be open to changes and input and Oddo said he's seizing the opportunity to prove that other sites could be just as viable.

CITY HAS FUNDING SET

For the city's fast ferries, de Blasio will fund service with a $55-million capital commitment. The service itself is expected to cost $10 to $20 million annually in city operating subsidies. Each ride would cost a MetroCard fare, to keep the fast ferries at the same price level as subways or local buses.

Oddo said the Port Richmond or Prince's Bay trial were just used to demonstrate feasibility of serving other, more remote locations. For a site to be fiscally viable, Oddo says it will need to be easily accessible for pedestrians and drivers.

"I don't want to pooh-pooh a Stapleton fast ferry," he added. "If the Bay Street Corridor develops, there will be critical mass and it will work there. ... But my mission is to change an amorphous, out of sight 'maybe' -- some distant phase two can't stand. My job is to shake that until there is an aggressive study as soon as possible."

The mayor's office says it at least willing to listen to Oddo's pitch.

"Whenever the borough president brings new ideas, we're always here to listen," said Norvell. "While we are of course open to evaluating the potential of additional service beyond those being planned, any future additions to the system would need to have significant ridership potential and be competitive with other forms of transportation."